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Sprowston
Road Methodist Church, Norwich

Sprowston is a
pleasant suburb of north-east Norwich, and a big one: if
it were a town in its own right, it would be the fourth
largest place in Norfolk. The Catholic Church serves
Norwich's only other Catholic parish than the Cathedral,
and there is a fine old Anglican parish church out on the
edge of the urban area, as well as a pleasing 19th
Century chapel of ease further in to town.

About
halfway along Sprowston Road sits Sprowston Road
Methodist Church. Maybe it was the sunshine on
this cold, bright January day, but I thought it
looked lovely set in its wide lawn behind a
hedge. It was opened in May 1958, and a pleasing
mixture of pink and white bricks creates an
almost luminescent effect in the bright sunshine.

As with many Methodist churches, the
buildings are often in use for other activities,
and a matching hall sits at right angles to the
main church facing on to a side road. The car
park was full of cars on this Saturday morning.
Intriguingly, a sign by the gate notes that this
is also the home of Norwich's Chinese
Congregation Methodist Church, and there were
other notices recording the busy life of the
place. Indeed, of all the churches along the
Sprowston Road on this January day, this was the
one which felt the liveliest, and the one which
was most obviously at the centre of its
community.